


Roadside Assistance

by angelastjoan



Category: Smallville, Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-13 23:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1244692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelastjoan/pseuds/angelastjoan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One Shot - Dean picks up a straggler on the side of the road.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roadside Assistance

Chloe was tired of overbearing males in her life.  They treated her with kid gloves and any time she happened to end up in trouble, which happened to be more times than not, they were there to point out everything she did wrong.  Was it really her fault that danger seemed to just follow her around?  She didn’t think so.

 

Chloe rested her head against the steering wheel.  And now she was stuck in the middle of nowhere.  Her foot had been pressed down on the gas pedal but the car had slowed to a stop anyways.  She had enough fuel, so she wasn’t entirely sure what part of the car was faulty but she knew it couldn’t be blamed on her.

 

She should really call someone.  Clark or Ollie or even roadside assistance.  Problem was, even now she could hear the disapproval in their tone of voice as they talked down to her.  She wasn’t anyone’s kid sister but they all seemed to treat her that way.  She was so sick of it.  When were they going to realize how important she was to the team?  Her plan had been to head out on an adventure of her own but she had barely gotten a hundred miles out of Metropolis when the car had sputtered to a halt.  She couldn’t even run away right.

 

Chloe unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, ignoring the temptation of grabbing her cell phone out of her purse.  She walked around the car to the front of the beetle and hopped up on its curved hood.  She leaned back against the windshield, her hands clutching her jacket together in the front to ward off the chill of the night air, and she stared up at the stars.  You couldn’t star gaze in the city.  It was impossible unless you went to the planetarium.  She breathed in slowly and let it out.  She hadn’t seen this many stars since her time in Smallville.

 

She got bored of staring up at them rather quickly and rolled her eyes.  “I can’t even relax right.”  She groaned as she sat up.  What was she doing?  Running away wasn’t going to solve anything with the boys.  She’d tried to talk to them in the past and they were responsive.  Nothing ever changed but they listened for the most part.  She’d just have to sit them down and explain to them again that she could take care of herself.

 

Chloe scooted to the edge of the hood and slid down to the packed dirt on the side of the highway.  She trotted to the driver’s side door and lifted on the handle - nothing.  Chloe’s eyes widened as she attempted to open the door again to no avail.  “Oh shit.”  She could see her keys dangling from the ignition and gently leaned her forehead against the top of the door frame, closing her eyes.  She couldn’t even decide to get help right.

 

Chloe tried yelling for Clark first.  Sure, she felt beyond stupid standing on the side of the road, hands cupped around her mouth yelling, “Clark?!  Clark!  Clark, get your ass down here now!”

 

Then she moved on to pacing around her car.  They’d notice she was gone by now, right?  I mean, they didn’t have a mission scheduled for tonight but she was at Watchtower pretty regularly on weekday evenings.  Problem was, she was pretty sure she was the only one who showed up to work on time each night.

 

Chloe fisted her hands and raised them to the sky, shaking them,  “Why me?!”

 

The honking of a horn had her jerking around and staring at a late model glossy black Impala.  The window rolled down and a handsome guy smiled out at her.  “Hey, gorgeous.  Need a lift?”

 

Chloe looked from her broken down bug to the muscle car that rumbled with life.  It wasn’t a tough choice.  “Yes!  Thanks so much.”  She lowered her fists and jogged to the passenger side of the car.  She opened the door and slid into the seat, promptly putting on her seatbelt.  “I’m so glad you came along.”

 

Dean leaned an arm against the steering wheel and grinned at the bedraggled blonde.  She was adorable.  Her hair was mussed and he had pulled up alongside her and watched in open mouth fascination as she had raised her hands to the sky and demanded a reason for the Gods.  He had laughed and shaken his head then decided to take pity on her and honk.  “So where to, little lady.”

 

Chloe turned her head and looked behind them at the city.  That wasn’t a tough choice either.  “Away from here.”

 

Dean nodded and settled back in his seat.  “Perfect.  I just happen to be going that way.”

 

Chloe laughed and smiled over at him.  “I’m Chloe.”

 

“Dean.”

 

Soft strains of Creedence’s Proud Mary pumped from the speakers and Chloe reached over to turn it up.  Her eyes shut as she mouthed along to the words, her feet pulled up under her on the bench seat as she got comfortable.

 

Dean couldn’t help but steal glances out of the corner of his eye at her as he drove them off into the night.  The companionable silence lasted a good hour before Dean’s stomach rumbled and he finally looked over at the girl beside him.  He was surprised to find her studying his face carefully.  “Hungry?”

 

Boy, was she.  Chloe coughed when she realized he was probably referring to actual food.  “I could eat.”

 

Dean’s eyebrows raised.  He had seen the way her eyes darkened and the desire that had come over her face with such an innocent question.  “Anything in particular?”

 

Chloe blushed and looked away, out the window.  “Nope.  You pick.”  Then she remembered her purse sitting in the floor of the front seat of her car.  “Shit.  My wallet is back in my car.”

 

Dean shook his head, “It’s no big deal.  I’m sure I can afford a meal or two.”

 

Chloe leaned back and studied him once more as his eyes turned to the road.  “How did you get that scar?”  Her hand reached out but she pulled it back before she could actually touch him.  

 

Dean’s own hand raised to his face and his index finger traced the scar bisecting his eyebrow.  “Knife probably.”  His answer was out of his mouth before he thought better of it and his eyes automatically shot to her for a second before returning to the road.  “Bar fight, I mean.  I was a little rebellious when I was younger.”

 

Chloe’s mouth had dropped open after his blurted answer and she slowly shut it, nodding.  “Okay.”  She couldn’t stop from shifting her body a little farther away from him and closer to the passenger door.  “So, Dean, where exactly are you headed?”

 

Dean smiled at her switch of subjects, her body language not escaping his attention, and got off on the exit that promised food.  “I’m heading south to pick up my brother.  Sioux Falls.  How about you?”

 

Chloe looked up at the garishly lit diner and wondered when the last time she had actual road food was.  “I don’t know.  I was just looking for an adventure.  I wasn’t even gone 2 hours when my car broke down.”  Chloe slapped her hand against her forehead.  “My car.  I’m so stupid.”  She looked up at Dean and smiled sheepishly, “You wouldn’t happen to have a phone I could borrow?”

 

Dean dug his cell out of his pocket and tossed it to her.  “I’ll go grab us a table.”  He tilted his head toward the front door of the diner and then got out, jingling his keys as he disappeared inside.

 

Chloe called home to Watchtower and was not surprised when Oracle answered, “Home and office of Watchtower.  How may I direct your call?”

 

“Oracle?  It’s me.”

 

“Oh, hello, Chloe.  Oliver has already had your car towed and he and Bart are searching for your mutilated corpse as we speak.”

 

Chloe rolled her eyes.  “The tracker?”

 

“It was in your phone.  When you didn’t show up for debriefing tonight Oliver had Bart check it out.  Did you happen to lock yourself out of your car?”

 

She laughed and got out of the car, shutting the door behind her and leaning back against it.   “You know I did.”

 

“And since you are talking to me currently I can deduce that you are not a mutilated corpse and are, in fact, still alive.”

 

Chloe smiled at Dean through the window as he raised a hand to her.  “I’m fine.  I was just going to ask you to call a tow truck but if Ollie has already taken care of it then don’t worry.”

 

“Chloe, I would ask that you proceed with caution.  The cell phone you are calling me from is a prepaid and I cannot vouch for its owner as it hasn’t been registered.”

 

“I will take that into consideration, Oracle.”  Chloe pushed open the diner door and grinned as she slid into the booth seat across from Dean, “Thank you for the tow and tell Bart and Ollie I’m alive.”

 

Oracle affected a computerized gasp.  “Are you with a man, Chloe Sullivan?”

 

Chloe laughed and ducked her head, “Good night, Oracle.”  She flipped the phone closed and slid it across the table to Dean.  “Thank you.”

 

Dean pocketed his phone and leaned back in his seat.  “No problem.  So Bart and Ollie?  Are those your cats or something?”

 

Chloe laughed and thanked the waitress that placed a mug of coffee in front of her.  “No.  Just some friends.”

 

Dean studied the woman across from him.  She was probably closer to Sam’s age.  Her blonde hair was pulled back in a messy bun at the nape of her neck with a few wisps hanging loose.  She had city girl written all over her but she looked like the kind of woman that would be just as comfortable stretched out on a hay pile.  Dean’s throat tightened and he swallowed sharply.  “Well, I can take you as far as South Dakota but after that I can’t help you.”

 

Chloe jumped on the offer.  “Sounds great, thank you.”

 

Dean looked a little closer as she smiled brightly at him, he was thoughtful before he asked, “What exactly are you running away from, Chloe?”

 

Chloe looked down at the menu in front of her.  “Life.”  Her honest answer earned her a grin from him.  Then he proceeded to order a mountain of food for them to share.

 

Chloe was on her third pancake when Dean’s phone started having a seizure to “Eye of the Tiger”.  Chloe shot him a maple syrup grin and covered her mouth to laugh at his choice in ring tone.  Dean put the phone to his ear and proceeded to have one of the strangest conversations she had ever overheard.

 

By the time he hung up Chloe could only gape at him.

 

“What?”  Dean had pretty much spoken in code so as not to alert those around him but Chloe was staring at him with such single mindedness that he was afraid she had understood all of it.

 

Chloe leaned forward across the table and spoke in a low tone, “Are you really going to pick up your brother to go hunt ghosts?”

 

Dean stared at her, mouth hanging open, coffee cup halfway to his mouth, hand stilled in shock.  “How did you-“

 

Chloe plopped back down in her seat and shoveled in another bite around the grin she couldn’t hold back.  “This is so cool.  I’m going with you, I hope you know.  Ghost busting.”  She chuckled and took a swig of coffee.  “Epic.”

 

Dean had threatened to leave her behind at the diner.  He had made it very clear in no uncertain terms would she be accompanying them on any “ghost busting” trips.  So when he stood on Bobby’s porch with a reluctant Sam staring out at him and a precocious blonde bouncing around by his side all he could do was roll his eyes and push past his brother.

 

“You’re Sam.”  Chloe reached out to shake hands with the guy standing in the doorway.  She tilted her head back to look up at him.  “I’m Chloe.”

 

Sam shook her hand and was just about to ask “Chloe who?”  when Dean reappeared.

 

“I picked her up on the side of the road outside of Metropolis.  She’s tagging along.”  Then he narrowed his eyes at Chloe, “just this once.”

 

Chloe couldn’t keep the grin from her face.  She’d been happier than she could remember listening to Dean read her her rights all the way from the diner to here.  “Yep.  Just this one busting.”  She leaned into Sam and whispered conspiratorially, “This is so cool!  I’m a total Venkman.”

 

Dean shook his head and muttered something that sounded like, “Christ” before he disappeared into the house again.

 

Chloe moved past a stunned Sam into one of the dreariest houses she had ever seen.  She stopped in the middle of the living room and did a slow turn.  Everything from the curtains down to the throw rugs and the furniture in between looked like it was from decades gone by.  She winced when she noticed the rabbit ears on top of the TV.

 

“Who the hell are you?”

 

Chloe turned at the gruff voice and then drew back at the hostile look on his face.  “Uh.  You must be Bobby.  I’m Chloe.”

 

She held out her hand like she had to Sam but this guy just flung water on her and said some stuff in Latin.  Chloe wiped her face with her sleeve and laughed.  “Okay, then.”  She looked around and said, “Nice place you have here.”

 

Bobby grunted in response and looked over at Sam who was watching Chloe carefully.  “Who the hell is she?”

 

Sam shrugged, “She belongs to Dean.  Hitchhiker, I think.”

 

Chloe rolled her eyes and plopped down on the couch sending up a puff of dust.  She coughed and waved her arms around, dispelling the dirty air. “My car broke down and Dean was kind enough to offer assistance.”

 

Sam shot her a look, brows raised.  “If Dean had decided to offer you assistance your car would be fixed.”

 

Chloe tilted her head in thought, studying the younger brother.  “Dean’s a mechanic?”

 

Sam shared a look with Bobby and then shot Dean a glare as he came back through the room with a duffel of a few day’s worth of necessities,  Noting the tension in the room he stopped and looked down at the blonde sitting on the couch worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.  Then he looked up at the glare Sam was shooting him and the scowl Bobby aimed his way.  “What?”  He turned to Chloe.  “I left you alone for minutes, what could you have possibly said to them?”

 

Chloe winced and tried for an innocent smile, ruined by Sam’s scoff.  “You had to bring her with you?  You couldn’t just fix her car on the side of the road?”

 

Dean rolled his eyes and shoved past his brother and out the door.  Sam followed after and Bobby just stayed where he was and watched the newcomer.  Chloe couldn’t help but roll her eyes and huff out a breath.  “I’m not possessed or anything.”

 

“Oh yeah?  I’m supposed to believe you?”

 

Chloe pointed to the wet splotches on her shirt.  “You hit me with holy water.  I’m not a demon.”

 

“And what about a ghoul or shape shifter?”

 

Chloe frowned in thought.  Dean had caught her up to speed on restless spirits and body snatching demons but he hadn’t mentioned much else.  “I don’t know.  I guess you could test me.”  She shrugged earning a thoughtful look from the older hunter.

 

By the time Dean and Sam reentered the room Bobby was showing Chloe around his work station where his different phones were on their hooks, one labeled FBI on a piece of tape in black sharpie.  Chloe mentioned doing something similar back home and then she sat back and let the boys fill her in on this mission of theirs.

 

It would be three days, tops.  Then she could get back to her real life.  She could say for once she was out in the field and she had been a part of a real adventure.  Chloe smiled as she listened to the men around her include her in the plan instead of seating her on the sidelines.  And for once she gave thanks for roadside assistance.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
